Senator Sheldon Whitehouse returned Sunday from Ukraine, which he visited as part of a bipartisan Senate delegation.

The delegation, headed by Senators John McCain and Dick Durbin, met with officials from the Ukrainian government in Kiev. The group also traveled to Maidan square where they paid their respects to the fallen.

Whitehouse says he was “moved and inspired” by his visit. He praised what he called Ukraine’s “commitment to freedom,” and condemned Russia’s aggression as “outside the conduct of a civilized nation.”

Whitehouse is encouraging President Barack Obama to take “the strongest action he feels he can to deter further aggression by Russia," adding that could include "imposing painful and damaging sanctions on Russia and its industries and oligarchs.”